This invention relates to a vehicle compartment latch and more particularly to a vehicle compartment latch for latching a vehicle compartment closure, such as a trunk deck lid in the closed position to secure the vehicle compartment.
Passenger vehicles are normally equipped with a rear vehicle compartment for storing a spare tire and transporting items such as groceries and luggage. The compartment, conventionally known as a trunk is closed by a deck lid that is hinged to the vehicle body and swings open to provide access to the compartment. The closure or deck lid is equipped with a compartment latch that cooperates with a striker attached to the vehicle body to latch the closure in the closed position automatically when the deck lid is closed.
In order to open the deck lid, the compartment latch is usually designed to be unlatched or opened from a position outside the compartment because the compartment is not designed to hold passengers. This compartment latch characteristic results in a possibility of a child (or older person) being trapped inside the trunk without any way for the trapped child to unlatch and open the deck lid.
The object of the invention is to provide a vehicle compartment latch that does not automatically latch when deck lid is closed against the striker.
A feature of the invention is that the vehicle compartment latch is equipped with a safety device that disables the detent lever when the compartment latch is unlatched thus preventing an inadvertent automatic latching of the vehicle compartment latch when the deck lid is closed subsequently.
Another feature of the invention is that the vehicle compartment latch is equipped with a safety device that must be reset manually after the compartment latch is unlatched in order to arm the compartment latch for a subsequent latching operation.
Another feature of the invention is that the vehicle compartment latch is equipped with a safety device that is automatically engaged but difficult to reset.
Still another feature of the invention is that the vehicle compartment latch is equipped with a safety device that disables the latch detent in response to an unlatching operation.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.